


Reconnecting

by charlesdk



Series: Tumblr Fics [26]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek Comes Back, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, M/M, Tumblr Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-13
Updated: 2016-08-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 13:36:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7759807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/charlesdk/pseuds/charlesdk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With life in Beacon Hills having gone quiet and good, Derek comes back and reconnects with Stiles. They become closer than ever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reconnecting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cloudyskiesandcurlyfries](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cloudyskiesandcurlyfries/gifts).



**Derek Sourwolf Hale, 7:37 pm** : Coming back to Beacon Hills. Coffee?

The text came in just as the oven timer went off, letting Stiles know his frozen pizza was done and ready to be eaten. He only got a quick glance at the lit up screen, before his eyes went wide, a nearly (very) happy sound rumbled in his throat, and he spun around to get the pizza out of the oven, burning himself just a little in the progress.

Worth it.

 **Stiles, 7:39 pm** : Yes! When and where?

He waited all of one minute just staring at his phone, before he remembered his dinner and went to eat it, stopping only when his phone vibrated on the counter with another message.

 **Derek Sourwolf Hale, 7:41 pm** : Saturday, 2 PM at The Brew?

 **Stiles, 7:41 pm** : Perfect!!

He immediately put it in his calendar, his heart pounding and his cheeks hurting from the smiling.

It had been years since things had quieted down in Beacon Hills. Most of the pack had decided to leave the place for good, too many bad memories haunting them.

Scott had been one of the few to stay, having gotten himself a job at the hospital after a brief time away at medical school. Stiles himself had left the town for several years, but he had returned to get a job at the station.

At first it was hard, being back in a place that held so many terrible memories which were often brought back at the most inconvenient times. But things had gotten easier, and Stiles was dealing with it. He was training for a deputy position, his dad was proud of him, Scott was still by his side, and now Derek was coming back.

Things weren’t so bad anymore. Things were good. For once, they were good.

Saturday rolled around, and Stiles found himself with his head in his closet, several shirts and pants discarded on the floor. It was 1 PM and he was not nervous.

Okay, he was _very_ nervous.

His feelings for Derek had subsided over time. He had only realized he even had those feelings when Derek nearly died (for who knows which time) and then left, so he first had to deal with that whole thing. But getting that one text from him and knowing he would be back and in front of Stiles again in just an hour? Well, he couldn’t blame his feelings for coming right back.

At 1:30, Stiles was dressed and out of the door to his place with his jacket only halfway on, his shoes untied because he just couldn’t wait any longer.

The Brew was a coffee shop in the middle of Beacon Hills. It was pretty popular, being one of the three coffee shops in the small town, but in the middle of the day, there weren’t all that many people.

Which was why Stiles easily spotted Derek sitting by a corner table the second he stepped into the shop.

And when Derek looked up, having sensed him coming in, and their eyes locked, it almost felt like the world stopped. For just a second, it was just the two of them.

Derek still looked like he always had. Good, amazing, beautiful. His hair wasn’t styled as it used to be, Stiles couldn’t tell if it was even styled at all. His stubble had become a beard, and his skin had gotten tanner. His shoulders weren’t tense, didn’t hold the weight of the world on them, and he looked more relaxed. Happier.

Stiles smiled widely at the same time a smile spread across Derek’s lips, and he walked over toward him just as Derek got out of his seat.

There was no hesitation when the two of them were close enough. They hugged, arms tight around each other and Stiles couldn’t help but close his eyes and breathe in. Derek even smelled nice.

When they pulled apart a few seconds later, they both smiled widely. “Hi,” Stiles said, a short laugh escaping him as he squeezed Derek’s bicep. Still strong, nice.

“Hi,” Derek greeted back, the smile firmly in place.

There was an awkward moment where they just looked at each other. Stiles broke it.

“You grew out your beard,” he commented, pointing at Derek’s face for only a quick second before he let his hand drop again. “Looks good on you.”

Derek nodded and moved to sit back down, so Stiles joined him on the other side of the table. “Yeah,” he started, resting his elbows on the table and leaning slightly forward. “Figured I’d try it out for a bit. You want something to drink? Eat?”

“Are you offering to buy me food and coffee?” Stiles teased, a grin on his lips. “’Cause if so, I want five muffins and a large coffee with lots of sugar and cream.”

Derek laughed and ducked his head down just a little, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly, and Stiles knew his heart was beating rapidly and he knew Derek knew, but he didn’t care.

“Coming right up.”

Derek got up and walked over to the counter to order, and Stiles shamelessly turned to watch him. And it only took a second before his gaze wandered south and ended up on Derek’s ass.

When Derek sat back down - he made two trips: one for coffee for both of them, another for the plate of three muffins and a promise for an extra two to go when they were done - they fell into easy conversation, talked about everything that had happened with both of them after they had parted ways.

Stiles told him about his training for the deputy position at the station, and Derek told him about the travels he had done. All around the world.

“You better make a whole presentation about all of them. I’m talking full on slideshow and every little thing you did everywhere,” Stiles said halfway through Derek listing all the places he had been (he had made it to fifteen, when Stiles had interrupted).

Derek hadn’t hesitate to promise him that he would do exactly that.

Neither of them really paid attention to the time. It was only when Stiles’ phone buzzed in his pocket, that he allowed himself to look away from Derek for just a second to check the incoming message.

“Arh, shit,” he sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I’m late for dinner with my dad.”

Derek nodded, shoulders slumping slightly as well and Stiles noticed the disappointed look on his face. It almost made him smile. “I’ll walk you out.”

When they parted ways outside The Brew, Stiles hesitated for a second before he stepped in and wrapped his arms around Derek in a tight hug. A hug that was returned immediately.

They hugged for longer than two old friends reuniting should, and when they parted, Stiles smiled at Derek and said “Stay in touch, will ya?” and Derek nodded, promising he would.

He had one foot into the Stilinski house, the house he grew up in and where his dad now lived with Melissa, when his phone pinged with a new incoming message.

 **Derek Sourwolf Hale, 6:49 pm** : I’ll get you those two muffins next time

Stiles grinned widely and shouted a quick “Hey, dad!” into the house as he replied, stepping out of his shoes.

 **Stiles, 6:50 pm** : Add another cup of coffee and I’ll forgive you

He couldn’t stop himself from smiling throughout the dinner he had with his dad.

*

“Did you know that Bishop on the third floor has a dog now?” Stiles asked as soon as the door to the loft was opened.

It had been a month since Derek had come back to Beacon Hills, but he was only just now officially moving back into the loft. The first month had been used to fix the other floors and get them ready for other people to move in. Which they had.

Stiles had befriended all of them alongside Derek, while the two of them became friends again too.

Good friends. Stiles would even go as far as to say best friends.

“That’s her roommate’s dog,” Derek answered from the old and beaten couch, his hands digging into one of the many boxes in the loft. “He’s on a business trip and she’s taking care of it.”

“He’s the one who’s broken several coffee machines already, right?” Derek nodded, an annoyed but slightly amused look on his face, and Stiles huffed and stripped out of his jacket while stepping out of his shoes. “That dude is super clumsy. It’s a wonder anyone let him have a dog in the first place.”

Slowly, Derek lifted his gaze from the inside of the box by his feet to look over at Stiles, his brows climbing up his forehead.

Stiles instantly knew what that look meant and pointed a finger at him. “Hey, I am not that clumsy anymore, shut up!”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah well, your eyebrows did.”

Derek rolled his eyes and huffed, but Stiles could see the amusement on his face anyway. “Are you gonna help me unpack or not?” Derek asked, gesturing to the many boxes unopened around the loft.

“That’s why I’m here, isn’t it?” Stiles walked over to the small kitchen area to the left and crouched down to one of the boxes labeled Kitchen Utensils.

“And here I thought it was because of my great company,” came Derek deadpan response, that had Stiles laughing loudly.

“Well yeah, that too,” he said, pulling the box open.

Stiles had only just wrapped his hand around a set of pans, getting ready to lift them out of the box, when a thought hit him. “Wait.” He stood up, not letting go of the pans, and looked across the loft to Derek still rummaging through his box. “What about furniture?”

“I’ve got those,” Derek said back without looking at him.

“Yeah, you’ve got two shitty looking tables, a bed, and an old couch that I can’t even sit in anymore ‘cause the springs dig into my ass. As much as I like putting things in my ass,” Stiles grinned slightly at the way Derek whipped his head around to stare at him, wide eyed, “it’s really uncomfortable.”

Putting the pans down on the kitchen counter, Stiles walked over toward Derek. “Come on, Derek. You’re starting fresh! You should go buy new and better furniture, make the loft look real nice.”

Derek stared at him for what felt like a minute but wasn’t more than a couple of seconds, before he sighed and nodded. “Okay, fine,” he said. Stiles threw his fist up in a short celebration, and Derek continued while he got up from his seat. “But only the necessary things. I’m not getting a bunch of useless decorations.”

Stiles snorted. “Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, big guy.”

*

The trip through Ikea took a lot longer than either of them had expected it to take. And it was all Stiles’ fault. Stiles with his constant need to put stuff Derek absolutely did not need for his loft into the basket and tell him he needed this and that.

Derek had to stop and put several things back in their rightful place more times than he wanted to, which only made Stiles pout at him, even though it wasn’t even his place he was decorating and finding furniture, among other things, for.

By the time they finally left the store, they had enough to fill Derek’s car to the rim and a few deliveries on their way.

Getting everything out of the car and up to the loft took even longer, and while Derek made several trips, Stiles only made a few before he started complaining about his legs and went to sit on the uncomfortable couch.

“It’s kinda late,” Derek said after making the last trip from the car to the loft, the door closed behind him and everything laid out on the floor of the loft. “You wanna stay over? We could order pizza.”

“Dude.” Stiles looked up from his phone, having decided to respond to a few of the texts he had missed while shopping with Derek. “You don’t have to bribe me with pizza. I’d love to stay over.”

He looked back at his phone before he continued. “Dibs on the bed though, ‘cause I am not sleeping on this couch.”

Derek huffed a laugh, hand digging into his pocket for his phone. “Sure.”

“Extra pepperoni on the pizza, please!”

*

“There’s no way. Leia wouldn’t just leave her four year old kid on fucking Jakku and never return.”

“But it’s more likely that Luke would?”

“To go stare at the ocean and contemplate his failure with Ben? Yeah!”

Derek huffed and rolled his eyes. “Okay, then how about she’s neither a Solo nor a Skywalker? That sounds better to me.”

“I mean…” Stiles paused to shove the last bit of pizza crust into his mouth. “I’d probably prefer that too. Would be better for her. Either way,” he swallowed as he reached out to grab his glass of water, “Rey’s a fucking badass.”

Nodding, Derek stood up from the couch and grabbed the nearly empty pizza box, holding it out to Stiles. “You want the last slice?”

Stiles sighed, eyes on the pizza slice held out for him and one hand rubbing lightly against his stomach. “I shouldn’t,” he murmured. But after another moment’s thought, he reached out to grab it anyway. “Fuck it.”

Derek huffed and smiled at him, then left to put the pizza box away, while Stiles munched down the slice in his hand, despite being completely full.

When Derek didn’t return right away, Stiles turned his attention to the kitchen area and raised a brow when he saw him standing there, hands on his hips and eyes on the ground. He looked deep in thought.

“Derek?” Stiles said carefully after swallowing the bite in his mouth. “What’s up?”

Exhaling slowly, Derek scratched the back of his neck before finally lifting his gaze to meet Stiles’. “I, uh…” He cut himself off, shifting and raising his arms to cross them over his chest. “I made that slideshow for you.”

Stiles blinked. “What slideshow?”

“The one with pictures from my travels.”

“Oh my God, are you serious?” Stiles instantly perked up when Derek nodded, and he smiled widely, putting the slice of pizza down. “You better show me right away. I’ve been waiting too long to see it.”

A soft smile slowly formed on Derek’s lips and he nodded, going over to grab his laptop from the bag on the bed, before he came to sit back on the floor in front of the uncomfortable couch with Stiles again.

“It’s nothing special,” he said lowly with a shrug as the laptop turned on.

“Shut up and show me everything.”

Derek did, going straight into stories about every picture, and Stiles’ smile widened at each of them, even more so when Cora and Isaac popped up in a few of them.

The pictures were amazing, some - like the pictures of the Northern lights - even breathtaking, and Stiles didn’t want them to end.

Which, of course, was why his body decided to betray him and his mouth opened in a silent yawn. He tried to hide it behind his hand, but he knew Derek saw it anyway. He couldn’t have hid it anyway, they were sitting so close.

“Okay.” Derek closed the laptop when Stiles’ jaw dropped in a second yawn. “You’re gonna go sleep. Right now.”

“But noooo,” Stiles whined, willing his eyes to stay open. “I wanna finish the pictures.”

“The pictures aren’t going anywhere, Stiles,” Derek said, getting up from the floor and taking the laptop with him. “And in case you forgot, you have deputy training tomorrow, so go sleep.”

Sighing heavily, Stiles leaned his head back against the couch and let his eyes fall shut. “Fiiiine. Just a few minutes.”

His eyes were closed, so he didn’t see Derek put the laptop on top of one of the boxes before coming back over to him. His eyes were still closed when there was a hand wrapping around his arm, and his eyes were still closed when Derek guided him to the bed.

He was just about to fall asleep, but he quickly willed his eyes open and looked over at Derek. Derek who was walking back over to the couch. “No wait,” he got out in a mumble, his words slightly muffled by the pillow but Derek had werewolf hearing. He would be able to hear him anyway.

“Don’t sleep on that shitty couch,” Stiles continued, shifting slightly on the bed. “Bed’s big enough for both of us, dude.”

Even in his half asleep state, his eyes almost closed, Stiles could see Derek hesitating from across the room. But it wasn’t long, before he walked over and laid down on the other side of the bed.

And Stiles fell asleep shortly after.

Derek woke up with an arm thrown across his middle and Stiles snoring softly in his ear.

They didn’t talk about it.

*

“Too many stairs,” Stiles complained to the empty stairwell as he (very slowly) climbed upward. His legs were killing him, his eyelids felt heavy, and he was exhausted. Training had been a lot that day, and he was ready to collapse and fall asleep any second now.

Had he not made a promise to Derek to come over, he would have gone straight home and to bed.

But Stiles kept his promises and he sure as hell was going to keep this one too.

That and he really wanted to see Derek.

He threw a fist in the air in celebration when he finally made it up to the loft’s front door, and he took a moment to rest. A moment where he leaned heavily against the wall, rested his head against it, and closed his eyes as he breathed.

He stood there for just a few seconds, before he noticed it.

Music. Coming from inside the loft.

Exhaustion forgotten and replaced with curiosity, Stiles pushed himself off the wall and went over to pull the door open. Because that really sounded like music from his own playlist and not Derek’s.

And when the door was slid open, he was met with the sight of Derek on the floor, wearing a tank top and sweatpants, and with a bunch of pieces of some kind of furniture laid out all around him.

Derek looked up at him and send him a smile. “Hey,” he said, eyes dropping back to what he was piecing together. “How was training?”

“Uh,” Stiles pulled the door closed behind him as he stepped inside, his free hand working on getting his jacket off, “super tiring. Is that my playlist you’re listening to?”

Derek shrugged, not taking his eyes off of what he was doing with his hands. “I like it.”

Stiles couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his smile. “Cool.” With a heavy and exhausted sigh, he threw himself on the (new and better) couch and rubbed at his shoulders. “I hope you don’t expect me to do anything today, ‘cause I’m not moving for the rest of the day.”

Derek huffed and finally looked up at him. “If you start stinking, I’m throwing you in the shower.”

Stiles waved a hand at him, the hand falling heavily onto the couch afterward. “Yeah, yeah. What’re you building?”

“Shelves.” Derek sighed, scratching the back of his head before picking up the instructions from the floor. “Might need more of them, actually.”

“We’ll go back for more if it’s necessary then.” Stiles yawned and his eyes closed, so he missed the way Derek looked at him, his eyes wide with surprise.

Because for Derek, it was that moment he realized his feelings for Stiles weren’t completely gone after all.

Stiles, totally unaware of Derek’s moment of realization, stretched and moved to lay down across the couch. “I’m just gonna close my eyes for a minute,” he murmured, already making himself comfortable.

“You do that,” Derek muttered. He watched Stiles for about a minute, before he shook his head and returned to the shelf.

*

“Wait, no. I think it’s supposed to go in here.” His tongue poking out between his lips, Stiles pushed two pieces together, groaning until it stuck together. And when it did, he smiled widely and and pointed at it.

Derek made a noise and a face. “I don’t know, it doesn’t look right.” He dropped his gaze back down to the instructions on the floor in front of him, brows drawn together as his eyes scanned the paper.

Most of the furniture in the loft was build, and the loft was slowly starting to look more like a home. All they had left was the dinner table set. They hadn’t even touched the table yet, both of them busy with the chairs.

The chairs that, for some reason, were near impossible to build.

“No, look at this.” Stiles grabbed a leg and attached it to what he had already build of the chair and held it out to show Derek. However, it was only when it was at arm’s length that he noticed how _wrong_ it look, and his smile dropped immediately. “Wait… that’s definitely not right.”

There was a beat of silence and then a choked snort from Derek, and when Stiles lifted his gaze to look at him, he saw Derek with a hand over his mouth and the corners of his eyes crinkling.

It was ridiculously cute.

But Stiles reached over to slap his arm anyway. “Don’t laugh, asshole! Not like you’re doing a better job at it.”

“I’m sorry,” Derek managed to get out in a chuckle, and he reached over to grab onto the half build chair in Stiles’ grip, not taking it from in and leaning into his space. “It’s just- This is wrong. Completely.”

Derek kept talking, Stiles didn’t listen. He was too busy looking at Derek’s moving lips and thinking about just leaning in and kissing him.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts, that he didn’t even realize he was actually doing it. Not until Derek’s words were cut off by a surprised noise.

Because Stiles had leaned in and kissed him mid-speech.

For a split second, Stiles panicked. He was ready to lean back, apology already on his lips, but then Derek grabbed the back of his head and kissed him back.

And Stiles forgot all about the chair that he build wrong, losing himself to the feeling of Derek’s lips moving against his own. Of Derek’s beard scratching his chin and cheeks, tickling his nose, and he _liked_ it.

He lost himself in the way Derek’s hand move to cup his jaw, thumb brushing over his cheekbone, and he lost himself in the way Derek’s tongue ran along his lips, causing a small moan to escape him.

When they pulled back, they just looked at each other for a moment, both slightly flushed, and smiled softly, eyes not breaking contact.

Derek cleared his throat and scooted closer to Stiles, wrapping an arm around him and grabbing the instructions for the chair to show him. “Look at this. That piece isn’t supposed to turn that way.”

Eventually they did manage to build the whole dinner table set the right way, a few stolen kisses and lingering touches in between pieces being put together.

Things didn’t change much after all. There was just a whole lot more of kissing than before, and Stiles got to call Derek his boyfriend.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on [tumblr](http://hoechlbutt.tumblr.com/), come cry about fictional characters with me.


End file.
